There are numerous functions which are performed in a printing plant which are related to each other in that, for example, they deal with the same printing job, but unrelated in that they deal with quite distinct aspects of that job, for example, make-up, printing and distribution. The printing industry has evolved to include automation and computerized control for many of the independent areas, such as computerized press controls, computerized make-up equipment, and the like. However, the problem exists of coordinating information from different departments (both on-press and off-press), or in coordinating different (historically independent) aspects of the same printing job (or many printing jobs) for overall plant operation. That difficulty is amplified by the different automation or computerization controls that have grown up for the various departments, and the very limited (if any) attempt to coordinate those units even insofar as commonality of data is concerned much less commonality of communication.
For example, a number of different areas in a typical printing plant can be considered to be administration, work preparation, logging of operating data, and quality control (which can include the actual printing operation). Those activities are typically considered to be entirely separate entities, although many of them require the same or similar data. For example, administration might be involved with the ordering and logistics in connection with basic supplies and raw materials, provision of an adequate work staff, etc. Labor time and costs stored in the administrative database can be used in estimating a particular printing job. Work preparation often involves makeup, including the making of plates, the setting up of the press, special requirements for particular jobs, and other ancillary data or operations. Logging of operating data typically means just that and includes maintaining adequate records of length of run, raw materials consumed, product produced, down time, time during which the press is producing unacceptable or acceptable product, etc. Finally, quality control typically includes not only the operation of the press but maintenance of printed standards at the press output. Those separate functions are often referred to herein as separate "departments" for convenience of reference, the idea being conveyed is that they comprise separate functional groups of operations within a printing plant.
In many cases, the identical data is required for more than one of the foregoing operations, but since the systems which operate those areas are independent, incompatible and not interconnected, to the extent the same data is needed in more than one operation, it must be relogged for each of those operations, at a considerable wasted expense. In short, a substantial amount of time is often spent on activities which have already been completed elsewhere.
As an example of the interrelationship of the separate operating areas of a typical printing plant, data associated with ordering of raw materials is not only important to the administrative aspect of the press operation, but can also be used in actual production. Furthermore, production data can be used for operating data logging and administrative operations. Also, data which is typically logged to cover the operating parameters of a particular job can also be used in the work preparation in order to calculate the number of consumables needed for a similar job. Other similar examples will occur to those adequately skilled in this art.
In spite of the known interrelationship of the data for the various functional entities which make up a printing plant, there has been no completely satisfactory answer to the problem of utilizing a data set only once and transmitting that data set to as many of the independent departments as require it. If it were possible to utilize a data set which is once generated in as many related areas as require it, the possibility of errors in rekeying the data as well as wasted expense in reformatting and rekeying the data would be avoided. However, insofar as overall printing plant operation is concerned, either decisions are made on the basis of an inadequate set of data, or alternatively substantial duplication of effort is required in order to translate from one operating environment of the plant to a related but independent operation.